Dear Ms. Singh:

Kevin O'Scannlain from Senator Hatch's office has advised me that you will be the point person on the revised asbestos trust fund bill (SB 2290).  For more than a year, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF), has been working with Senator Hatch's office in our campaign to create a federally-funded mesothelioma research and treatment program.  We proposed a $140 million comprehensive research and treatment program, all of which was adopted in the Ban Asbestos Act, and some of which was included in Senator Hatch's draft.  As Mr. O'Scannlain said about MARF's modest proposal juxtaposed against the enormous size of the potential compensation trust fund: "A $140 million research program in a $140 billion trust is nothing."

As you go forward, you will be hearing a lot about the special financial and medical hardships that mesothelioma patients must endure.  Yet my bet is you won't hear much about any solutions to the medical problem, on either a patient or a national level.  Asbestos Cancer is truly an epidemic, yet this country has never invested in any medical research programs on a level proportionate to other cancers.  In the past few years, the National Cancer Institute has allocated about $2 million per year towards research, but a large chunk of that has been consumed by grants that deal principally with causation issues, not treatment, early detection, or prevention (the NCI's 2004 budget was about $5 billion).  Billions have been gobbled up by litigation, most of which has gone to transaction costs and fees, and not a dime has been invested in curing or treating the disease.

The federal government has a duty to fix this national health problem.  Of the 4,000 Americans diagnosed with mesothelioma every year, approximately 32% were exposed to asbestos while serving in the U.S. Navy or while working in naval shipyards.  Despite the heavy toll this insidious cancer exacts on Navy servicemen, neither the Department of Defense nor the Department of Veterans Affairs has a medical research and treatment program for mesothelioma. 

Since 2000, MARF has united patients, doctors, lawyers and former asbestos manufacturers in the mission to eradicate this terrible disease.  In conjunction with the Ban Asbestos Act, we have proposed the creation of a $140 million Mesothelioma Research and Treatment Program, which would fund 10 centers of excellence, establish the Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Registry and the Congressman Bruce Vento Tissue Bank, among other important programs.  However, the need to fund medical research has always been overshadowed by the "bigger" issue of whether to compensate victims, and if so, how much and by whom?  The compensation debate has always trumped the argument for finding a cure. There is now widespread agreement that the merits of a medical research program for asbestos cancer should be considered separately from the rancorous debate over the merits of asbestos civil litigation tort reform.

We are asking for your cooperation in our mission to persuade Congress to create a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program for Mesothelioma (CDRMP).  Congress has created CDMRPs for ovarian, prostate, breast and other cancers which are not necessarily service-connected.  From 1992 to 2005, Congress has appropriated over $3.4 billion dollars to the DOD for specific research priorities.  The time is long overdue for Congress to recognize the service and sacrifice of the thousands of veterans who either currently suffer from an asbestos-related cancer or are at a substantial risk for contracting same in the future.

We would like to discuss our proposal with you.  We envision a united front that includes the DVA and the DOD, along with distinguished members of the scientific, medical, business and legal communities.  The creation of a federal program for mesothelioma research should not be tied to the success or failure of asbestos compensation reform legislation.  With your support, we can attract support from both sides of the aisle, as mesothelioma does not respect party, rank, or title. 

For your review, we are attaching a number of memoranda, letters and articles which speak to MARF's history, purpose and our impact within the medical and legal communities.  The attachments include a roadmap for curing mesothelioma, a draft of the proposed $140 million research and treatment program, a summary of the grants funded by MARF, an overview of MARF's peer-review funding mechanism, an article that discusses the options for marshalling the resources to fund medical research, and a statement by a Navy veteran afflicted with mesothelioma.

We will be calling you in the next few days to discuss this letter and the next step.  We look forward to collaborating with you and your staff. 

Sincerely,

Roger G. Worthington
Founding Director

Enclosures